USS Mackerel SS-204

The USS Mackerel was as an experimental United States Navy submarine. At 243 feet long, and with a complement of 37 sailors, she could reach a speed of 16 knots surfaced and 11 knots when submerged, and was armed with six 21-inch torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, and one 3-inch / 50 caliber gun. Her armament consisted of two direct-drive diesel engines, two 60-cell batteries and two electric motors. She could dive to 250 feet and had a range of 6,500 nautical miles at 10 knots.

Becoming a Training and Testing Expert

The keel of the USS Mackerel was laid down in 1939, at Groton, Connecticut, and she was launched the following year and commissioned a year later. She began standard operations, partnering with Submarine Squadron 1 at New London, Connecticut throughout World War II. She was involved in training assignments to help improve the Navy's submarine force and respond to requests from the Underwater Sound Laboratory. The USS Mackerel also partnered with the Submarine and the Prospective Commanding Officers Schools, while assisting in the development of antisubmarine warfare for allied surface vessels and aircraft. Her progress was steady and profitable, and the USS Mackerel sailed between her base in the New London area to the Casco Bay and the Chesapeake Bay. The USS Mackerel worked with the Antisubmarine Development Detachment and the Underwater Sound Laboratory and was instrumental in the development of advanced submarine knowledge while providing training and testing. The USS Mackerel became an expert when it came to both tactile and technical measures of antisubmarine warfare.

Enemy Contact

In 1943, Mackerel found herself within firing distance of the enemy. After the USS Mackerel set sail for the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia she was ordered to join with Army and Navy aircraft in the execution of advanced antisubmarine training maneuvers. In sailing to her destination, the USS Mackerel's lookouts noticed something unusual. They realized it was actually the wake of two torpedoes, which appeared to be heading directly for her. The crew responded immediately and followed proper evasion maneuver procedures. Responding in the standard manner, the USS Mackerel returned gunfire with two of her torpedoes, which did not hit their mark. The following morning it appeared that the same ship was in the area, but by that time, the USS Mackerel had gained enough distance to remain safe from torpedo strikes. That was the USS Mackerel's one and only contact with Japanese gunfire.

USS Mackerel was decommissioned in 1945 in Boston, Massachusetts, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register within the month. Two years later, she was sold for scrapping to the Philadelphia-based North American Smelting Company.

Crew members of the USS Mackerel participated in numerous training operations, fleet exercises and maneuvers that jarred her infrastructure a good amount. Hopefully this did not cause asbestos fibers aboard the vessel to be released into the air where they could have been inhaled or ingested. Once in the body asbestos can cause the development of an asbestos-related illness such as mesothelioma. Click here to receive a complimentary informational packet about this cancer. Asbestos was commonly used aboard vessels during World War II because it was durable and extremely resistant to heat and fire. Though it may have protected against fires in the vessels, the presence of the mineral aboard the ships placed crew members at a serious risk of developing an asbestos-related illness.

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